With the upcoming French elections just around the corner, Germany is bracing itself for the results, which are expected to swing to the right.

Climate, migration and gender equality policies are likely to be affected on a national level in France if far-right Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party wins. Yet, political scientist Prof Dr Miriam Hartlapp warned the effects could ripple across the European Union.

“Policymaking in Brussels will change because members of this right-wing populist party could sit in the Council of Ministers. This creates a different situation for countries like Germany and other European nations,” Hartlapp said.

“France is not a small member state, but a large and important one. We can expect that European climate policy, asylum and migration policy, and gender equality policy at the European level will then look different,” she added.

Hartlapp said the swing to the right has spread across Europe as the dissatisfaction with current governments is reflected in the political climate.

Germans are aware of the changes and this “causes concern,” Harlapp said, pointing at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent interview where he said he hopes “that parties that are not [Marine] Le Pen, to put it that way, are successful in the election. But that is for the French people to decide.”

Hartlapp added that the EU can expect immigration-related cases to be brought to the European Court of Justice.

“Some points in the National Rally‘s program clearly contradict the fundamental rights of the European constitution. For example, immigrants in France not having the same rights as French citizens when it comes to housing and social benefits. This directly contradicts EU law,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Germany, individual politicians from the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and extreme-right Die Heimat announced their plans to form factions in the eastern state of Brandenburg this week, after AfD outperformed all of the parties in the ruling coalition government during the EU elections.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the replacement of Lieutenant-General Yuri Sodol as the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
• Zelenskyy named Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov as Sodol’s successor, who will handle strategic planning of operations.
• Sodol’s removal followed a letter by Bohdan Krotevych, head of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, accusing Sodol of actions leading to military setbacks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he had replaced the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Yuri Sodol, after reports surfaced that he had performed badly in the 28-month-old war against Russia.

Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, gave no reason for the dismissal. He said Sodol had been replaced by Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov in the post, which involves strategic planning of operations.

Sodol’s removal, one of a series of personnel changes, followed publication of a letter by the head of Ukraine’s revered Azov regiment, Bohdan Krotevych, in which he alleged that Sodol’s actions had led to serious military setbacks.

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In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Krotevych did not identify Sodol by name, but said an unnamed general “has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.”

“What I do care about is that combat battalion and brigade commanders are put on trial for losing an observation post, but a general is not put on trial for losing regions, dozens of cities and thousands of soldiers,” Krotevych wrote.

“All the military personnel now understand who I am talking about because 99 percent of the military hate him for what he does.”

The news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing a leaked report, said a criminal complaint had been submitted concerning Sodol, who was promoted earlier this year, although it did not identify him. It said Krotevych was willing to testify against him.

Hnatov had served as deputy commander of the southern theater of operations since 2022 and played a leading role in recapturing much of southern Kherson region from Russian invaders.

In the spring of 2023, he commanded the defense of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, a town that eventually fell to Russian forces after many months of pitched battles.

Krotevych, in a social media post after the president’s announcement, described Hnatov as a “very worthy officer”.

With Russian forces making gains and slowly advancing through eastern Ukraine in recent months, the military has undergone considerable changes.

The military top commander, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, was dismissed in February after public differences with Zelenskyy over the conduct of the war.